


Predictable?

by Sanolyn



Series: Soriel Week 2017 [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst(?), Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", Sorielweek2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 20:06:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11698989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanolyn/pseuds/Sanolyn
Summary: There were two kinds of confession Toriel could expect from her dear friend. Not, that she would ever have expected the second kind.Entry for Soriel Week 2017 (Prompt 5: Confession)





	Predictable?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt Number Five! I hope you enjoy reading because I enjoyed writing it.~ 
> 
> [raritysdiamonds](http://archiveofourown.org/users/raritysdiamonds/pseuds/raritysdiamonds) is an amazing beta and an amazing writer. Go check her out if you want to read high-quality Soriel.

It sometimes felt as if there were two sides to her dear friend. One that he thought he hid well and was actually really obvious about - his feelings for her, which she had been aware of for quite some time already - and another that he hid exceptionally well and would never have occurred to her in her wildest dreams. There were also two types of confession that she could expect from the small skeleton. The first one was rather adorable. The second...well, she wouldn’t use the word adorable for that confession, per se.

The first happened on a day like any other.

\--

Frisk was currently visiting her former husband and Sans had offered to visit her so she wouldn’t feel lonely. His exact word choice had been ‘bonely’, of course, and she still had to smile when she thought about it.

Toriel had gladly accepted. She didn’t even need to wait long until she heard him knocking on her door.

She almost couldn’t suppress a giggle. “Who is there?”

“dishes,” he said.

Well, that was peculiar. Why would he use their very first joke together? It made her happy, without a doubt, but was the current day in some form or way special? She couldn’t recall anything noteworthy. Nonetheless, she was curious.

“Dishes who?” she asked.

“dishes a very bad joke,” he answered.

She laughed and opened the door, her grin brightening.

“Welcome, Sans!” she said.

Then Toriel noticed what her friend was wearing, and this only confused her further. His hoodie was clean for once, and he wore pants and sneakers instead of the shorts and slippers she was so familiar with. Her muzzle curled up in a smile as she regarded her friend, her cheeks warming up just the slightest bit.

“You clean up well, old friend. Is there any special occasion I am unaware of?” she asked.

He rubbed his skull. “uh, kinda? no, s'just - pap insisted I wear something nice today.”

This seemed a bit suspicious, especially considering his slightly flustered reaction and very noticeable blush, but she let it slide. Stepping aside, she made room so that he could enter.

"I apologize. I have not prepared anything. I did not expect that you would come on such short notice."

He shook his head. "'s'fine. uh - i brought a movie, so if you want to..."

Sans seemed awfully nervous today, she noticed. It worried her slightly. They were friends and she definitely didn't want to be a source of his countless worries. She wanted to be the one that could ease his troubled mind.

She smiled lightly. "I'd love that."

Sans put in the movie himself and sat beside her; not too far away, but not too close either. It didn't take long for her to be engrossed in the movie. It was beautifully hilarious and the jokes were simple but on point.

Sans, however, seemed more interested in the window to their left. Suddenly, she couldn't bring herself to keep watching the movie either.

She knew he had a crush on her, but he was never too obvious about it. They mostly treated their outings as meetings between friends. The only possibility she could think of was...

No.

Could it be?

Was he really considering asking her out?

It would certainly explain his change of clothing, the use of their very first joke together and that he thought of the movie as an activity. It took all her will not to act like a love-struck teenager.

Toriel adjusted her position, unable to keep the smile from her face. Her chortles and laughs at the actors’ antics might have been a little bit too giddy and silly for a woman of her age, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Especially if her happiness brought him happiness too. Sans' expression might have been a bit dreamy, and she was starting to like this very much.

She just wished she could ease his worry without giving away that she knew about his feelings. Just asking if he was okay would, most likely, put him in a position he currently didn't want to be in.

However, she had a feeling that if she didn't speak now she may be waiting a long time for the confession she was hoping for.

Sans had an annoying habit of putting things off.

The movie ended, just as she had the feeling that no one was truly watching it any more. Toriel stood up and smiled fondly at her dear friend, who didn't even seem to have noticed.

"Sans?" she asked.

She seemed to have shaken him from his thoughts, if the jerky movement and almost slightly caught out expression was any indicator.

"huh? oh, yeah tori?"

Maybe she should go easier on him.

"Would you mind helping me prepare  dinner?"

"sure."

His grin seemed oddly genuine.

\--

Cooking had always been rather cathartic for her. Cutting vegetables was an easy, peaceful task. While her hands worked a routine that she already knew by heart, her thoughts could focus on the other occupant of the kitchen. Sans was surprisingly helpful and able to navigate his way to even the furthest parts of the kitchen in a matter of seconds. She had stopped questioning this a long while ago.

Surprisingly helpful, but also unusually quiet.

Before she could ponder this further, he handed her the spices she had requested earlier and a head of lettuce. Sans was casually leaning against the counter.

“don’t want the dish to be _plant,_ you know?”

She laughed. “Certainly not. It would be definitely less a- _maize_ -ing that way.”

He chuckled at that and played with the cords of his hoodie, watching her cut vegetables for an awkwardly long period of time.

“so, uh, tori. i’ve _bean_ thinking,” Sans began.

Toriel tried to repress the happy grin that was threatening to form on her face. “Yes, dear? You can always tell me. After all, it is better to share your _cabbage_ with others.”

“heh, so. you’re a great friend,” he stated.

Toriel's entire soul was enveloped with warmth. She stopped repressing her happy smile and was about to answer, but it seemed that Sans wanted to keep talking.

He was suddenly looking straight at her. “ _olive_ spending time with you.”

Toriel put her knife into the sink and gave him her whole attention. She folded her paws over her chest and studied his overly casual, but slightly flushed expression. Some warmth rose to her cheeks as well.

“So do I, Sans,” she said.

Sans responded with a small and slightly shaky laugh. “’m glad you think that way.”

He studied the ground with an intensity that she didn’t expect from him. His hands were in his pockets and he still leaned against the counter, more slumped than she'd ever seen him, but she couldn’t describe it. He still seemed tense.

“the thing is, you kinda became much more than a friend to me. it’s alright if you don’t feel the same way, but if you wanna try it out...would you mind accompanying me to grillby’s sometime?”

He had put on the mask again. The one that made it seem to most as if he couldn’t care less which reaction he was going to receive, but hid a torrent of emotion behind it. She was so incredibly happy, but his neutral expression worried her. She would probably do both of them a favor if her response was straightforward and eager.

“ _Olive_ to. I already wondered if I should ask you instead, dear,” Toriel admitted. “I had hoped you would notice that our feelings are mutual.”

She was definitely blushing now. Sans just looked at her with the slightest bit of disbelief, but mostly understanding.

“should've seen that. i couldn’t really believe you were interested in me. i always thought you were generally just really loving,” Sans said.

She wouldn’t let him keep believing that if she had any say in it. She easily picked him up in her arm and put him on the nearest clean counter - an empty milk carton was knocked over in the process, but she couldn’t care less. Toriel didn’t give him a chance to react before circling her arms around him and pressing her muzzle against his teeth. She had never known how much warmth his face radiated until now. She could practically taste the ketchup already.

Sans tensed in her grip. Slight disappointment flooded through her and she slowly lessened her embrace, trying to soften the force of the kiss. Her friend - or perhaps, she should now say, boyfriend -noticed and reached out for her. She suddenly felt the tiniest breeze of magic touching her lips, leaving her reeling from the sensation. It almost was like another pair of lips brushed over hers, somehow lingering there for a moment.

Well, apparently that was how skeletons kissed.

Her cheeks were burning and she might have felt the slightest bit dizzy. He seemed slightly out of it too but managed to send a lopsided grin her way. She didn’t even think his grin changed much, she just knew that it was supposed to be lopsided.

“i really like you, tori,” he told her.

She laughed breathlessly, giddily. ”I really like you too, Sans.”

\--

The second type of confession happened on a day filled with dark storm clouds, torrents of water and ominous flashes of lightning. She had been reading _144 Uses for Snails_ , a book Sans had brought her some months ago, before the aforementioned skeleton had entered.

Sans was dripping wet. His hoodie clung to his frame, making him so much smaller than he seemed usually. His eye-sockets were empty, his skull slightly ashen. The carefree grin seemed so misplaced on his face. Toriel nearly let her book fall at the sight. She put it away.

He looked like he had seen the dead. Before Toriel knew what was happening, she was on her feet already. She rushed over to her boyfriend, immediately fell to her knees and enveloped him in a heartfelt hug. He seemed to collapse into her arms, holding onto her neck and just staying there.

She nuzzled his clavicle and softly stroked a paw over his spine.

“What happened, dear?” she murmured.

When he did not respond, she added:  “I know this is not nothing.”

He made something akin to a chuckle. “that predictable?”

“It does seem like a routine you have studied for. Let me warm you up. Afterwards, we will talk.”

Her voice left no room argument. He nodded and let go of her. She led her slightly apathetic boyfriend to the sofa and  began collecting blankets, pillows and warm, dry articles of clothing. There was an air of purpose around her. If anyone had stood in her way at that moment, they would have quietly retreated.

Sans looked better as she reached him. If it wasn't for the wet clothing stuck to him, he would have seemed completely alright. Toriel sighed and gave him what she had collected.

"Do you want anything? A coffee? Pie? I still have leftovers from yesterday."

He looked at her, grin set in place.

"would be nice. thanks, tori."

She nodded, but was reluctant to leave him alone. She feared that with each passing minute Sans would become more able to compose himself, to build up a front.

She had never prepared coffee and pie faster. In the meantime, Sans had managed to change and arrange the pillows and blankets so as to make himself comfortable, but still leaving room for her.

She didn't need to be asked to join him, and not much later, they were cuddled up together, and she absently rubbed circles over his skull.

"You looked like you had seen the dead."

He laughed. It was not a happy one, not the one she usually heard from him. The mirth and amusement, joy and heartiness of it was absent.

It was a dry and sarcastic laugh, as though this was the most ironic thing he had ever heard. Toriel frowned.

"you're not too far off with that," he muttered.

"Sans... What happened?"

He leaned against her and seemed to almost slump.

"i promised i'd tell you who i had lost," he said.

"You did," Toriel confirmed.

"you won't believe me," he began, before closing his eye-sockets. "before alphys there was another royal scientist. you don't remember him. no one does."

It was unbelievable, very much so. However, she doubted that Sans was lying. He had promised her.

He also would have come up with a better lie.

"Would you mind explaining it to me? There must be a reason for this," she interrupted softly.

"he was erased. fell into the core, got lost in time. but he's still there," he explained. "there are shadows of him everywhere. he warned me of something, but i couldn't figure out what he meant and -"

She kissed him before he could start rambling. He visibly relaxed under her touch.

"It will be fine. I have to admit that I don't understand entirely. However, there is one thing I know. Should anything threaten my family, it has to best me first. I am only kind when I choose to be."

His following laugh was happier than its predecessor. "you would kick that thing's..."

She glared at him. Frisk wasn't in their room, though she wouldn't be surprised if her child was eavesdropping. She knew which kind of profanity would end Sans' sentence.

He chuckled sheepishly. "behind."

Toriel mourned that his light-hearted demeanor wasn't kept up for long. Something about this scientist's disappearance must have hurt her skeleton deeply.

"The scientist. Was he close to you?"

"yeah. he was kinda my dad. Dr. -"

The hug was probably too sudden and had too much strength behind it. Sans laughed weakly.

"you don't want to hear the rest...?"

"You lost a family member, Sans. I need to be here for you. You can explain everything else later," she admonished.

"aww, tori. you're the best," he said. A moment later, he added: "thanks, t."

She didn't want to let go of him.

Later, Frisk would tease them with how awfully cuddly they were being that day.


End file.
